Contents

When you think of the most influential creators in the video-game industry, few can be spoken of in the same breath as the legendary Yoshitaka Amano. Before putting his fingerprints on the role-playing genre as one of the original creators of the Final Fantasy series, Amano spent 15 years at renowned animation studio Tatsunoko Productions, best known for Speed Racer, Gatchaman, various Macross titles, and later, the production of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

With the U.S. release of Final Fantasy XII coming in October, buzz is mounting. Soft-spoken, humble, and exceptionally generous, Amano-san was a gracious host for this conversation at his studio in Japan.

Thank you, Amano-san, for taking the time out of your schedule to invite us into your home. When did you realize that you wanted to be an artist?

Yoshitaka Amano: When I was 14, I went to see my best friend, who had moved to Tokyo while I was still living in Shizuoka. I knew about Tatsunoko and felt like I wanted to join, so I brought a piece of my art, and I went to their office and left the piece behind. After I came back to Shizuoka, Tatsunoko sent a note saying they wanted to hire me. That's when I joinedand that's when I realized that I wanted to draw and paint as my career.

YA: I just run into these things, and when I see something like this [motions to the large, wooden egg in his hands] I just feel like I want to do something with it. In this case, it's 3D not 2D, so if I start painting on this side, I have to think of the ending point as I wrap around. If I paint on paper . . . if you walk over here, it won't show up, but if it's 3D, you'll see it from back here, because it has shape. I find that very interesting. I'm attracted to things like that.

How long was it between when you left Tatsunoko and when you became involved in video games?

YA: After I quit Tatsunoko, there wasn't really a game market for about three or four years.

Was Final Fantasy the first game you worked on?

YA: Final Fantasy wasn't the first video-game-related job I did. I went to America for a week, the first time I went there. I don't remember what company it was, but they asked me to do an illustration similar to Dragon's Lair, the arcade game, and that was the first game-related job I had.

Since the early video games had such primitive graphics, how did you feel about seeing your elaborate illustrations transformed into such tiny sprites?

YA: There is actually an interesting story behind that. Because the art was so small and pixelated, I created a design like that. But they came back to me and said, "Please design it normally so we can shrink it down ourselves." They wanted a real design from me, not something that looked like a game character. [laughs]

Back then, my art couldn't go into a game without major adjustments. So I looked at sprites as just a symbol of my art. Here's an example: When you say "Mount Fuji" and you make a motion like this [makes a peak with his fingers], everybody knows what Mount Fuji looks like, so they get the mental image in their head. So I was in charge of making the master art piece that people would keep in their mind, and people would remember this art because of these symbols in the game.

Did you think that video games would last as long as they have and evolve as they have?

YA: Back then, the people around me in my lifepeople in the book industry, publishers, and so ondidn't see the potential in the games industry. They would ask, "Why are you working on games?" But myself, I was very interested, and felt a huge potential in games, so I enjoyed working on them.

What do you think is your best piece of work in the game industry? Is it from Final Fantasy, or Front Mission, or something else entirely?

YA: The character I like most is Tina from Final Fantasy VI. She was the first heroine of the Final Fantasy series. I also like the character Faris from Final Fantasy V: a girl but a bit of a tomboy. I like the simple monsters too, like the Bomb and the Slime. I feel as if this represents me more, so I like the simple designs.

When a game or movie is a series, the main character or the monsters or enemies become more complicated as the series goes on. But I like the original the mostthe plain, raw character. Like in the Star Wars series, I like the first one the most. I like the impact Darth Vader had on people. As the series goes on, you're getting used to him, so they try to put more flavor into him, so you begin to lose the original, raw identity. I like monsters like the Slime, that you can draw simply and easily.

Automatic Renewal Program: Your subscription will continue without interruption for as long as you wish, unless
you instruct us otherwise. Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of the term unless you authorize
cancellation. Each year, you'll receive a notice and you authorize that your credit/debit card will be charged the
annual subscription rate(s). You may cancel at any time during your subscription and receive a full refund on all
unsent issues. If your credit/debit card or other billing method can not be charged, we will bill you directly instead. Contact Customer Service